


somewhere over the sea

by havisham



Category: Original Work
Genre: Meet-Cute, Other, Selkies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 01:27:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12570632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/havisham/pseuds/havisham
Summary: Lena goes to the beach and meets someone who will change her life.





	somewhere over the sea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sath](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sath/gifts).



Lena remembered the day when she first met Bilou as a foul one -- she’d fucked up at work and had been yelled at, her landlord had left a passive-aggressive note about a surprise inspection that was happening next week, and her ex, Annie, had still not returned Shelbert, their shared turtle, to her, even though it was her turn to keep him. 

So Lena went to the one place that was guaranteed to give her some measure of peace and happiness -- the rocky beach two miles from her home. Marine biology wasn’t her speciality, but something about the sound of the ocean and the smell of the water calmed her, and helped her center her thoughts. 

She usually hoofed it, but that day, she’d taken the bike and had enjoyed the ride -- right up until she came up the last hill before the beach and was hit by the strongest, most unpleasant smell she’d ever encountered in her life. It was like the porta potty at the state fair, times a hundred. She felt faint. That brief moment of light-headedness was enough to make her skid down the slope and crash her bike at the bottom.

When she’d recovered enough to get her bearings, Lena realized what must’ve happened. She couldn't imagine the stench could be anything other than a dead whale, washed up on the shore. So she took off running, eager to see it. But when she got to the beach, it was empty of everything -- everything except a large, oily slick stretched out over the beach. 

In the middle of the slick sat the strangest-looking person she had ever seen. 

Stick-thin, vaguely greenish, and completely hairless, the person looked around the beach with a mild expression of puzzlement. They looked like an alien, although Lena didn’t know why an alien would bother to have such a humanoid shape.

“Hey, you!” 

Lena was startled. “Are you talking to me?” 

The person was staring at her. “Is there anyone else on the beach?” 

Lena looked around nervously. “... No?” 

“Oh, good, I was worried there,” they said, and stood up, slime dripping off of their body. They looked cold and uncomfortable and for some reason, Lena found herself taking off her jacket and holding it out. 

“You don’t have to give me your skin,” they said, looking alarmed. “We’ve just met, after all!” 

“What?” Lena said. “That’s not my -- Um. You looked cold?” 

“I suppose I am,” they said, taking Lena’s jacket and looking at dubiously. After a moment, they gingerly swung it over their head. 

“What’s your name?” Lena asked. 

“What’s a name?” 

“I mean, what are you called?” 

“What are _you_ called, human?” 

“My name’s Lena Mackintosh, I’m a physics grad student at the -- ah, you’re not listening.”

“I am,” they said proudly. “I am ancient and complete. I am Bilou. Pleased to know you.” 

And although Lena wasn’t aware of it at the time, it would be a pleasure to know Bilou. But at the time, she only stared at her for a while longer. Finally, she gave up and asked what was on her mind. 

“So, Bilou, what are you going to do now?” 

Bilou considered. “Help me hide my sharkskin, and then show me your world.” 

“Sharkskin?”

“You’re standing on it.” 

“Oh God!” Lena looked down. She was, in fact, standing on _something._ “Why do I have to show you the world…?” 

“Why not?” 

Lena opened her mouth and closed it again. “OK, fair enough. My world’s mostly labs and working with undergrads, though. You might not like it.” 

“I don’t know what those words mean,” Bilou said. “You’re still standing on my skin.” 

“Ah, sorry,” Lena said. She helped Bilou roll up the skin and together they buried it far enough inland that the surf probably wouldn’t reach it. Bilou didn’t seem worried about that possibility, so Lena wasn’t either. Afterwards, Lena went to look for her bike, which she had abandoned above the beach, and Bilou wandered after her. 

“Are you hungry?” Lena asked her, as they walked back to the apartment. 

“I’d kill for a chunk of polar bear,” Bilou conceded. 

“I have beef jerky in my pocket.”

And that was the start of a beautiful relationship -- more or less.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my beta!


End file.
